Shattered Dreams
by Tangent
Summary: One of the early fights between Ranma and Ryoga gets out of hand, and now everyone has to deal with Shattered Dreams
1. A Crushing Blow

Shattered Dreams  
A Ranma ½ fanfict by Tangent  
Pre-reading and editing assistance by:  
Lord Talon;  
Nevrmore;  
And some guy named Steve  
  
Revised: 05-12-2001  
  
DISCLAIMER: 'Ranma ½' and all characters therein belong to Rumiko Takahashi, Shogagukan, Kitty, and Viz Video. This fanfict has been produced for my own enjoyment and to pass on without profit. Other characters that come into play in this fanfict may or may not be pulled from other sources (including other fanficts, RPGs, manga, anime, literature, or possibly even *GASP* American comic books!).  
  
A WORD FROM TANGENT: Once again, I am writing a story similar to others that I have found on the net. Not only that, I am writing one that is pretty much a counter balance to 'Pieces on the Board', a fan-fic that I wrote that has a similar theme but takes place around the other end of the Ranma series.  
What can I say? I'm Tangent, and exploring possibilities is what I do. I don't always treat any particular character well, nor do I always put any particular character in a bad light (although it's awfully hard not to do so with some of them, like Genma…). I do usually try to treat them with dignity, whether I cast them as good or bad, but I keep my eyes and my heart open to possibilities that present themselves.  
In 'Pieces on the Board', it was an automotive accident that initiated the story of trial and renewal. In 'Shattered Dreams' it is a spur of the moment decision on the part of one of the cast that causes the tragedy. A tragedy that changes many lives forever, not the least of which is his own… and that of his victim.  
  
FORWORD: A Study in Possibilities…  
(Voice over by Rod Sterling if I could afford him…)  
  
In the endless sea of time, everything happens. All possibilities, however improbable, see reality sooner or later. The impossible also happens, more often than one might think. Such is the way of things, no matter what universe you happen to be in.  
Consider the case of Ranma Saotome, a martial artist in most incarnations, often cursed (usually by turning into a girl). In one set of temporal possibilities, he is engaged to Akane Tendo, also a martial artist in most incarnations, whose relationship with her fiancé is more often stormy than not because their parents are forcing the issue. In a further subset, Ranma is devoted to Akane, despite their voiced protests, through a sense of honor and unrealized emotions. In many of these, Ranma has had to move to save Akane's life, sometimes succeeding, sometimes not, and neither one can truly be said to even be aware of some of these incidents as they happen. For these are the little things, the ones that happen within a set of larger circumstances that tend to draw attention away from them.  
For example: In one incident shortly after Ranma had been engaged to Akane, Ranma was involved in another fight, this time with a boy named Ryoga Hibiki. It is their second fight since the two turned sixteen. Depending on the timelines involved, the fight stays on the grounds of Furinkan High School (as opposed to ending up in a zoo). In most cases, the tempers of both opponents flare. Ranma staying focused on Ryoga to the point of not noticing becoming a girl, and Ryoga focusing on Ranma-chan to the point of not caring about bystanders. More often than not, Ranma tries to pause the fight in order to get the bystanders (Akane in particular) out of immediate danger.  
In a further subset, Ranma-chan has taken Akane out of the immediate combat zone, and the two have a misunderstanding that threatens their engagement. Ryoga attacks again, from behind, using a 'razor belt' strike that (in this set) is deflected into the air by Ranma-chan. In many sets, the belt returns, killing Akane, Ranma-chan, or both. In a precious few, Akane turns back just in time, responding to Ranma-chan's attempts to apologize.  
Sometimes, Ryoga stops pressing the attack at that point, other times he pulls Ranma-chan back into the fight over her protests. In this set, he has once again attacked from behind as Ranma-chan's concern for Akane had seriously distracted her…  
  
CHAPTER ONE: A Crushing Blow  
  
Ranma-chan looked in shock at what had just happened to her now possibly ex-fiancée. The belt that she had kicked out of Ryoga's hands had spun up into the air and had returned in an arc that had sliced of most of the length of Akane's hair. An arc that, had Akane not turned to yell at her when she did, would have cleanly cleaved the girl from the nape of her neck to just below her navel.  
Just the thought made Ranma-chan want to cry in terror and grief over what had almost happened. She desperately wanted to hug Akane, to hold her, to assure herself that Akane was really okay, but fear held her back. She had done it before, just before Akane had started storming away in anger. In fact, it was her fault that Akane had inadvertently put herself at risk to begin with, what with her having denied ever really wanting to hold her fiancée to begin with. How could she have been so stupid, so callous? Akane had just renounced their engagement.  
'You don't have to explain. Because starting now… You and I are STRANGERS!'  
Did she really mean that? Ranma had to know, but not just yet. What was more important was making sure that Akane was all right. Nothing was more important than that. Even that nagging little feeling of impending danger was overridden by her concern for the girl who appeared to be in shock. Surely even Ryoga would stop his assault now that he had nearly killed an innocent bystander…  
WHOCKRK!!! "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!"  
Ranma-chan could not help but to scream in pain from the force of the blow that struck her back just below the shoulder blades. Her whole body beneath that point suddenly felt as if it had been sheathed in ice and wrapped in fire at the same time. Her vision blurred as she dropped to her knees, still screaming.  
THWACKRK!!! "…"  
The second blow, this one to Ranma-chan's left shoulder blade, drove the breath from her lungs as she lost all feeling in her left arm. As she gurgled and tried to gasp air back into her lungs again, a startlingly coherent thought occurred to her. [So this is it. I'm going to die. Ryoga, I thought we could be friends again, why are you killing me?] The next strike, she knew, would be her last experience in this life. She could sense it in slow motion, approaching the back of her skull, and there was nothing she could do about it at this point. [Akane, I'm so sorry…]  
The third blow never landed…  
  
* * *  
  
Ryoga stared in shock at the hand that had caught his fist. It belonged to that cute girl that his hated rival had been teasing and arguing with. She had stopped a strike that could have crushed a solid concrete block easily, as if it had been nothing more than a baseball. He could feel the bones in his hand grinding together in point to the rage in her expression.  
"Get away from my iinazuke, you monster!" SNAP! Went Ryoga's elbow joint as the girl bent it severely in an unnatural angle. "Leave her alone!" POP! Went his shoulder as the girl yanked it out of its socket, dislocating it nearly as badly as she had his elbow. "What did she ever do to you to deserve this!? She thought you were her friend, damn you!"  
"Because of her," Ryoga gasped through his pain, "I've seen hell!" This, apparently, had been the wrong thing to say, because Ryoga cried out in pain as the girl jerked the arm further out of joint in response to it.  
"What hell!? Ranma waited three days for you to show up for your stupid bread feud!" the girl shouted. "He thought you were his friend when he first remembered who you were! He tried to make amends when he thought that you were still angry with him about the bread!" THUMP! Ryoga felt the air being forced from his lungs by the blow he had just received to the gut. "Ranma is my fiancée, damn you, and if she dies…" Ryoga looked into the girl's tear streaked, furious eyes, and knew fear. For these were eyes he had seen before. Eyes that promised vengeance returned one thousand-fold. Eyes that he saw whenever he looked at himself in a mirror. "So help me, if she dies… I… will… KILL… you!" With that, the girl delivered an uppercut to Ryoga's jaw powerful enough to send him flying against the wall of one of the school buildings, unconscious…  
  
* * *  
  
Akane fought through the dazed shock that she was experiencing from nearly being beheaded (having received a really bad haircut instead). Ranma-chan had saved her life by deciding that Akane was more important than the fight with Ryoga, and trying to apologize. Ranma-chan had stayed with Akane after her hair had been chopped off, honest concern being very evident in her expression. And Ryoga had taken advantage of this greater distraction by once again attacking Ranma-chan from behind, this time with a fist to her back.  
The first, sickening blow had effectively removed Ranma-chan from the fight as she screamed in primal agony. The second blow reduced these screams to a helpless gurgle, as it became difficult for her to breathe. The third blow never landed, for Akane Tendo had joined the fight.  
Ordinarily, Akane would stand no chance in a fight with Ryoga; but then again, ordinarily she wouldn't stand a chance in a fight with her fiancé either, and she had managed to defeat Ranma once before. All she knew was that a monster was killing her iinazuke, and she had to stop him. And stop him she did.  
There is an inner strength in all of us that can be called for in times of great need or duress. Fear can bring it forth, as can anger and desperation. So can realization of the truth of love just found, only to be cruelly snatched away by fate… or a monster. A martial artist is supposed to be able to access this strength through his or her ki. In Akane's case, it was a combination of all these factors that gave her the strength to stop Ryoga's third blow from landing.  
It was with the ferocity of an angry tigress that she then dislocated the arm that she had grabbed and then punched him away from her fallen love. It was with despair that she gathered Ranma-chan in her arms and begged. Begged for anyone to call a doctor, an ambulance, anyone to save Ranma's fading life.  
This was the man she loved, never mind the fact that he was cursed to turn into a girl. Never mind his course behavior and poor social skills, for they weren't truly his fault. He was her hero, her love, and he had fallen while saving her life. Akane could do no less…  
  
* * *  
  
Ranma-chan lay there as she tried to gasp more air into her lungs. Akane had saved her life, stopping Ryoga like she did. What Akane had said in her defense warmed her heart, for all that it still beat madly in her chest. If it weren't for the debilitating pain coursing through her body, the neo-girl would be content in the knowledge that Akane really did care for her.  
Unfortunately for Ranma-chan, the damage to her body, as localized as it was, was critical. While she didn't think that her back was actually broken, seeing as how she had collapsed to her knees rather than all the way to the ground, fractures were a real possibility. Her entire lower body felt as if she was being simultaneously burned and frozen at both temperature extremes. Definitely not a good sign, from what her rather limited medical knowledge told her. Also, her left arm hung limply at her side, and unlike her legs, she couldn't feel it at all.  
She was scared, really scared, that she was going to die anyway, alone and in greater pain than she had ever felt before. Her breathing was ragged and forced, she was trembling all over (except for the horrible lack of sensation from where she knew her left arm to be), and she had a hard time focusing her vision on anything for very long. [So cold… so very cold… so hot. I'm on fire… I have to be… I'm freezing to death… I don't want to die… not like this…]  
A vision filled her eyes. That of a beautiful angel, or rather Akane, which was good enough for her. She didn't want to die alone. She was grateful that Akane had come back to see her on her way…  
"Akane," Ranma-chan gasped weekly as she felt herself being gathered into her fiancée's embrace. It felt good to be there, despite her unabated agony. It felt… right. "Akane… I…"  
"Hush, Ranma," Akane comforted her fallen hero. "Ryoga won't hurt you any more."  
"Akane…" the neo-girl choked as her gaze lost focus once again. "Akane…"  
"I'm here, Ranma, everything is going to be all right."  
"I… hurt, Akane..."  
"Somebody call a doctor! Ranma's hurt!" Akane shouted at the gathering crowd. To her irritation, most of them just stood there in shock over what they had just witnessed.  
"I… don't… want… to die… Akane…" Ranma-chan wheezed out past her ragged breath. "I… don't want… there to be… bad feelings… between us…"  
"Don't talk like this, Ranma," Akane pleaded. "You're not going to die!"  
"I think I… love you… Akane…"  
"I think I love you too, you jerk," Akane responded gently, tears in her eyes. "Please don't die on me!"  
"I… just wanted… to say that… before I go…"  
"SOMEBODY CALL A HOSPITAL NOW, DAMN IT!" Akane shouted at the crowd once again. "I am NOT going to lose my iinazuke like this!" She broke down in tears as she continued to plead. "Someone… anyone *sob* call a doctor, a paramedic, anyone! *Sob* I don't want to lose Ranma! Not like this! Not ever, but definitely not like this!"  
While some continued to stare at Akane and the girl she called Ranma, others ran off to do as she requested, hoping that they would be in time…  
  
* * *  
  
Ryoga came to his senses in a sea of pain. A girl had stopped him from killing his hated rival by dislocating his right arm severely and knocking him away from the fight. He could feel the bruises beginning to form on his stomach and jaw, where she had hit him harder than anyone ever had before. Now the girl was sobbing over his fallen foe, calling out for help for her iinazuke, never mind that Ranma was a girl at the moment.  
For the first time in a long while, Ryoga was ashamed… of himself and his own actions.  
Ryoga slowly rose to his feet and staggered away, painfully popping the joints of his arm back into place. He had nearly killed a girl… no, a boy… who had thought that they had been friends and could be again. Damn it! Ranma had been a friend of sorts, before the bread-feud had gone on too long. He had been the only boy willing to spar with him, even with his greater strength. And while Ranma had made fun of his lack of a direction sense, he had never been as malicious about it as the other kids had been.  
And Ryoga had nearly killed her… er, him. He had been about to strike the final blow when, thank all the kami, the girl had stopped him cold. [What kind of monster have I become?] he thought to himself. [Is my curse truly so bad that I felt justified in murdering my friend? Even if it is his fault that I became cursed, that's no excuse! What have I allowed myself to become?]  
With tears freely flowing from his eyes, Ryoga staggered away from the scene of the fight… straight into the spray of the broken water fountain.  
  
* * *  
  
Nabiki wandered around slightly dazed in shock at what she had just witnessed. She had thought it fun to pick on the mostly ignorant cursed boy who had come into the lives of the Tendo family. She had initially started out of a sense of revenge for him not to have been the fiancé she had so desperately wanted him to be. She had continued to pick on him because he had turned out to be such an easy mark, not unlike her younger sister, and she felt even less guilt than she would have had he actually been a family member.  
What she had just witnessed though…  
Ryoga Hibiki had been a case of vengeance taken out of proportion. None of what Ranma had told them could excuse the obviously deadly intent the lost boy had just shown in this fight. The safety of bystanders did not matter to him, in stark contrast to Ranma. Nor did he care who was around to witness his questionably honorable tactics.  
He might even be inclined to eliminate those very same witnesses. At the very least, he may decide to take vengeance out on Akane, who had hurt him more than Ranma had.  
Nabiki was afraid. Not only for her own safety, but for that of Akane as well. A singular lack of interest had caused Nabiki to stop training after their mother had died. Training in the family School of Anything Goes Martial Arts had been an unnecessary and painful reminder of her life before that tragedy. Now it had just become all too necessary by far.  
Tonight, she would ask her father to pick up her training again. Akane had just fought Ryoga and won, but Nabiki held no illusions as to what would have happened if the lost boy had not been in shock about having been stopped in the first place. After all, Akane had nearly died from a random attack of the lost-boy's, and he had shown no hesitation afterwards. Either he was too obsessed, didn't care, or was just plain stupid. In any event, she couldn't take the chance that it was more innocent than it appeared.  
Nabiki absently picked of a somewhat damp little black pig wearing a yellow and black bandanna that had bumped into her leg. She would have to find the owner later, but right now she just wanted something… anything… to help comfort her during the dark times she saw ahead.  
Nabiki raised her head at the sound of sirens. An ambulance had arrived to pick up Ranma, and police were arriving as well. One of the officers was getting a brief statement from Akane, but it was obvious that she wanted to go with her fiancée. Nabiki wandered over to give her own statement, glad that she hadn't gone ahead with the idea to bookie a bet for the fight. Not that she had been given enough advanced warning about it to do so, but it would have been the next big step for her and her compatriots.  
A step that Nabiki could no longer afford to take if she wanted to get involved with the authorities. The law could be a powerful ally, and enforcers of the law were handily available. The law tended to like truth and justice, as opposed to lies and cruelty.  
Duty… Honor… Purpose…  
A martial artist had these things…  
So did an officer of the law…  
Nabiki Tendo had found her calling.  
  
END CHAPTER ONE.  
  
C&C Welcome.  
Flames will be used to roast marshmallows.  
  
Tangent  
tangent@zbzoom.net 


	2. Forced Visions

Shattered Dreams  
A Ranma ½ fanfict by Tangent  
Pre-reading and editing assistance by:  
Lord Talon;  
Nevrmore;  
And some guy named Steve  
  
DISCLAIMER: 'Ranma ½' and all characters therein belong to Rumiko Takahashi, Shogagukan, Kitty, and Viz Video. This fanfict has been produced for my own enjoyment and to pass on without profit. Other characters that come into play in this fanfict may or may not be pulled from other sources (including other fanficts, RPGs, manga, anime, literature, or possibly even *GASP* American comic books!).  
  
A WORD FROM TANGENT: In the previous chapter, Ryoga had struck down Ranma-chan from behind while her attention was on Akane. Akane, in a burst of strength born of terror, rage, adrenaline, and her innate (but not yet consciously realized) ki, prevented the lost-boy from striking the final blow. The police arrived, along with an ambulance, to investigate the matter and take statements.  
And, throughout it all, a young woman, one Nabiki Tendo by name, has been forced to recognize the darker side of her own human nature. Not liking what she sees as the logical extension of her own petty behavior, and fearing for her own family's safety, Nabiki decides to take steps to rectify her life in a more positive manner. She has resolved to pick up her training in the Tendo Ryu of the Anything Goes School of Martial Arts once more, so she can better defend her family, herself, and her interests. She is also considering a career in law enforcement.  
She believes that she has found her calling in life.  
She has also found a little black pig…  
  
  
CHAPTER TWO: Forced Visions  
  
Ranma-chan looked up at Akane from where she lay on the gurney. The paramedics had secured her to a backboard, just in case her spine was damaged, and were busy poking this or that, to see if she lost any sensation in her limbs.  
"Ow!" Ranma gasped as she spasmed… or tried to anyway. The backboard was doing its job.  
"Yes, I…" Ranma gasped through the breathing apparatus. She had difficulty breathing after Ryoga's last strike on her back, and there was some worry that her left lung might have collapsed. The pure oxygen that the mask was feeding her was supposed to help her other lung compensate for the extra work. Unfortunately, it was also making her throat feel kind of raw. "I feel… my toes… Damn it! Stop… pinching them! It… hurts!"  
Ranma still felt like her body below where Ryoga had struck her spine had been dipped in fire and ice, and every little thing seemed to be more sensitive to pain than normal because of it. Her breathing was still ragged from when the force of the second blow had driven the air from her lungs, but she was slowly getting her breath back, as painful as it was. She looked at Akane gratefully as the girl took her hand... the one that she could feel anyway.  
She still couldn't feel her left arm at all, and that scared her. Possibly even more than the back injury did, as bad as it was itself. If she could still feel things, no matter how painfully, she felt that the injury was one she could recover from, but to lose all sensation in a limb? That was bad. Very bad.  
"Thanks… Akane," Ranma-chan managed a small smile, despite her fear and pain. "You… really came… through for me… back there." She was rewarded with an embarrassed blush from her fiancée, who turned her head away for a moment.  
Akane brought her gaze back to the girl who was really the boy she was engaged to marry. No longer did that seem so bad, and she began to think that it never really was. Just her own stubborn pride refusing to acknowledge that her heart had already been taking a risk for a while now. After all, why else would she have gotten so angry with him before, if she really didn't care. She never gave him a chance after the betrayal she felt when he turned out to be a boy after all. New tears formed in her eyes as she thought back on all the times he attempted, in his own clumsy way, to apologize or be nice to her, only to be cruelly rebuffed for his efforts. No wonder he always ended up teasing her - she never let him do anything else.  
Ranma-chan gazed worriedly at Akane's tear streaked face, and tightened her grip on her hand in what she hoped was a comforting manner. Regardless of her own fears about her condition, she had to be as strong as she could, for Akane's sake.  
"Ow!" Ranma-chan glared at the paramedic by her feet. "I said… stop it… already! That hurts!"  
  
* * *  
  
Nabiki stepped out of the police car tiredly. For a while, she had thought that the questions would never stop, and she had wondered idly if she was going to be recommended for psychiatric care. The irony being that for once she had told the complete, unembellished truth as far as she knew it. If so, then so be it. She would weather this storm as she had others in her life. Fortunately, there were enough other eye witnesses to the fight to provide some validity to her statements, and a demonstration of Mr. Saotome's curse would provide the rest of the proof that she needed.  
Wearily walking past the front gates and through the yard, Nabiki cuddled the small black piglet she had found earlier for what comfort it could provide her. No one at the scene had claimed it, much to her relief, so she had decided to bring it home with her when the police offered her a ride to her home. She accepted, knowing that they would have driven to her house anyway, as they needed to inform Ranma's father about what had happened. Besides, she didn't trust the man to think beyond his own selfishness, even with his only son in the hospital.  
She took off her shoes in the genkan as she entered the house and motioned the Officers to follow suit. Rather than head upstairs immediately to change out of her school uniform, she led the way to the kitchen where she expected to find Kasumi.  
  
Kasumi hummed happily in her little sanctuary that was the Tendo kitchen. Here the cares of the world just seemed to slip away in the comforting rituals of caring for her family's welfare. Not that this was her only refuge, as she largely took care of the whole estate, with a little assistance from the rest of her family from time to time, but the kitchen was where she could remember Mother the best - painlessly and with memories of joy rather than sadness.  
She wondered for a moment what had brought Mother to her mind this time, and her heart grew heavy. Somehow she knew, even before she turned around to greet her sister, that something bad had happened. The expression on Nabiki's face was one that she had only seen once before, as much as her sister was trying to hide it. The Police Officers accompanying her only added emphasis to her growing alarm. Quickly setting aside what she had been doing, she rushed over to her sister, gathering her in a comforting embrace.  
"Oh, Nabiki, what's wrong?" Kasumi asked, as various possibilities ran through her mind. It hadn't escaped her notice that two people were missing from this scene. "Where are Ranma and Akane? Are they all right? Did something…"   
Nabiki fought back her emotions for as long as she could, but it proved to be too much after what she had witnessed and the statement that she had given the police already. She finally lost all control and began sobbing, holding Kasumi tightly (and eliciting an uncomfortable, but somehow resigned squeal from the little black piglet caught between them). She had witnessed many fights before, and some of them had resulted in injury before, but not like this… It had never been someone that she, kind of, cared for. It had never been this bad either. Now Ranma was being rushed to the hospital in a back-brace, not to mention the breathing apparatus that she saw them put on the neo-girl. Nabiki wasn't anyone's fool, the martial arts moves that could cause such damage might still prove fatal for her little sister's fiancé.  
Kasumi's heart grew cold and filled with grief as Nabiki sobbed into her shoulder. Old emotional wounds were torn wide open as she realized that either Ranma or Akane, if not both, were terribly hurt, or possibly…  
She couldn't even bring herself to think of that possibility.  
"Go get changed," Kasumi instructed. "I'll take these nice Officers in to meet Father and Uncle Saotome. When you're done, we'll be in the family room."  
  
Nabiki entered her room and set the little black pig on the floor as she began to change out of her school uniform. Ryoga-buta, for his part, turned discretely away from the girl who had picked him up back at the second field of Furinkan High. He had felt more and more shame as he had listened through the girl's… Nabiki's… account to the police, and more so when he witnessed her emotional breakdown with her older sister. He, in a single act of mindless aggression, had destroyed not only Ranma's happiness, but that of this innocent family as well.  
"I deserve to be a pig," Ryoga proclaimed - or tried to, anyway. It came out more like: "Bwee!" No matter, it was all the closer to what he felt was his self-imposed punishment allowed, anyway. Yes, he would be a pig until -  
"Oh, did you find something little guy?" Nabiki asked, seeing that the piglet was facing the bottom most drawer of her desk. The piglet turned to look at her when she spoke, but turned back right away, so she guessed that he had found something. It never occurred to her that he had turned to avoid a nose-bleed form seeing her in her underwear. "Well, you found me out! I do have some sweets stashed in there. I'll get you one in a moment."  
Ryoga, for his part, was just glad for an excuse, even if he was only a pig. Now that the girl mentioned it though, he could smell candy from the drawer in question. Despite himself, he was looking forward to the treat. Besides, he hadn't really eaten all day…  
  
* * *  
  
Ranma tried not to acknowledge the pain that she felt when they transferred her back to the gurney from the x-ray table, but a whimper escaped her regardless of her efforts. Akane was no longer at her side, having been taken to what would be Ranma's room at the hospital and told to wait there. On the plus side, the breathing mask had been taken away once it was determined that she was breathing fine on her own - Ryoga had knocked the wind out of her, not collapsed her lung after all. Although his last punch had also caused her to lose all feeling in her left arm…  
Anyway, the x-rays were done, for which Ranma was quite grateful. Seeing as she hadn't been in a hospital since… since… well, she couldn't remember when the last time was, if ever. Because of this, and the possible extent of her injuries (they added head-wound to the list when she started insisting that she was a guy), they wanted to conduct a full series. That meant that Ranma had to endure being repositioned and rolled carefully to one side and then the other, as well as face down and up. Even with the extreme care that they took, it hurt each time, and Ranma was approaching her limits, beginning to whimper while fighting back pain-filled tears.  
  
* * *  
  
Akane was waiting, sick with worry, in the hospital room that Ranma was going to be brought to. It wasn't fair, really, that it took something like this to bring down the barriers that they had placed between themselves and their relationship. Most of which, she had to admit as she thought back on it, were her fault. Every time Ranma had tried to open up around her, she had taken it wrong and punished him for it. For all intents and purposes she had been, in effect, training him to be a perpetual jerk as far as she was concerned. Akane tried to envision what their relationship would be like in the future if this incident hadn't opened her eyes, and what she saw made her break down in tears.  
Akane saw a future where they argued over every little thing because she couldn't bring herself to trust Ranma. One in which every attempt of kindness on Ranma's part was misconstrued and punished, until he stopped trying altogether, and just teased her because she was going to hit him anyway, no matter what he did. A future in which one or the other would become downright abusive to the other, if they both didn't end up that way.  
"Oh, Kami-sama, why did it have to take this to make me see what I was doing to us?" Akane beseeched the heavens. "Why did Ranma have to be hurt so badly in order for me to open my eyes? Why did he have to be hurt at all?" She tried to picture a life without Ranma, and saw nothing but loneliness and despair. And then she knew.  
Akane Tendo finally knew, beyond all doubt, that she loved Ranma Saotome. That part of her cruelty towards him was an attempt to hide this fact from even herself. And she cried all the harder for it.  
  
* * *  
  
Genma Saotome stood ramrod straight as Soun, Kasumi, Nabiki, and he rode the elevator up to the floor that Ranma was on. His face was an expressionless mask, hiding his inner turmoil at the news he had received from the officers that had brought Nabiki home. Ranma was hurt, who knew how badly, having been viscously attacked from behind while he was insuring that Akane was safe and uninjured. A tactical blunder against a foe without honor, but an understandable one. Ranma was only sixteen, hardly old enough to have acquired a truly deadly enemy, but apparently he had one after all. One whom he had thought was a friend, and thus all the more dangerous in the end.  
For the life of him, Genma couldn't remember whether he had ever been involved in trouble with any Hibiki Clan. If so, then this was something out of his own past that harmed his son. He hoped not, as he had done enough direct damage to his son over the years without it being done indirectly due to old vendettas that he had forgotten or never knew about. As he thought back, he catalogued many instances where he had failed as a father, even in his own eyes.  
Genma Saotome had no idea what to do about this situation, so he fell back on old habits and tried putting it out of his mind…  
  
* * *  
  
Akane set the hot tea down carefully after taking a sip to soothe her nerves. A short while ago Ranma had been brought into the room that she would be staying in while she was in the hospital. Akane's heart quavered at the whimpers that escaped her beloved's lips when they transferred her from the gurney to her bed. Ranma's pride was great, and for even those small sounds of pain to escape her meant that the pain that she was experiencing must be terrible.  
At the moment though, all Akane could focus on was the bickering that Ranma was going through with some of the hospital staff.  
"I am a guy!" insisted the decidedly non-male patient with an unfortunately cute pout on her face. "I only look like a girl because of my curse!"  
"I'm sure that you believe that," stated an officious looking man patronizingly, "but evidence indicates that you are a girl. You don't have any of the right physiology for a member of the male gender, and all the right parts for a female. Ergo, you are a girl." He was an officious middle management type of the old school of thought that held that women should mind their place in the world. To him, it was bad enough that he was forced to put up with female doctors in his hospital, and nurses that he couldn't get 'familiar' with. Some little slip of a girl patient who insisted that she was actually a boy was just going to have her delusion nipped right in the bud!  
Doctor Kaze, one of the very same female doctors that the man detested so, shared an irritated glance with the accompanying nurse. Telling a patient with serious injuries to her face that she was delusional was not particularly recommended, especially in such a confrontational manner.  
"There's part of your problem right there!" Ranma seethed. "My name ain't Ergo, it's Ranma. You must be in the wrong room!" The stuffy official facefaulted while Akane giggled. Both doctor and nurse smirked and the nurse covered her mouth with her hands in an attempt to avoid laughing out loud.  
"What's going on?" asked Genma, who entered the room, followed by Nabiki, Kasumi, and Soun (the little black pig had been left in a box in the dojo with some fresh vegetables and a bowl of water).  
"This jerk wants to have my records altered to say that I'm some girl named Ergo!" Ranma-chan snapped angrily, glaring at the sputtering, red-faced official. This time, it was Dr. Kaze and the nurse who facefaulted, realizing that the girl was serious about the 'Ergo' bit. Akane just shook her head and calmed down.  
"Easily solved," Genma stated, approaching Ranma's bed. He was stopped by Nabiki, who gave him a 'what kind of idiot are you' look through her half-lidded eyes. Genma sighed in resignation, having already been through this, having lost an argument with the girl about showing his curse to the police earlier. He really didn't want to demonstrate his own curse to so many important people twice in one day, but there was no help for it, he supposed. He put those thoughts aside, leaving the room briefly and returning with a paper cup full of water. He approached the doctor and the official, straightened up to his full posture, and dumped the water over his own head.  
Unfortunately, he had failed to consider the increase in bulk that he gained when he became a panda. The sudden appearance of the massive beast jarred the rolling tray that Akane's hot tea was resting on. Hot tea that spilled all over Ranma.  
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!"  
Ranma's scream as he suddenly increased in size while still bound in a constricting back-brace rattled the windows. Everyone displayed a panicked expression as Ranma writhed in agony, the grip of his one working hand crushing the railing on the right side of the bed.  
Nabiki, thinking quickly, grabbed the empty paper cup out of the panda's paws, and ran out of the room for more cold water from the drinking fountain. She rushed back in, fairly tossing the contents upon Ranma in hopes of relieving her future brother-in-law's pain.  
The scream resulting from Ranma-chan's spine contorting once more not only rattled the window again, it cracked, and then shattered all of the glass in the room. Ranma-chan's eyes were wide and dilated with shock for a moment before she stopped screaming, and then they relaxed shut as the rest of her body slumped limply back onto the bed.  
The paper cup dropped from Nabiki's pale, numb fingers and rolled across the floor…  
  
END CHAPTER TWO  
  
OMAKI THEATER PRESENTS: Yen-chan's Body Double  
  
Nabiki fought back her emotions for as long as she could, but it proved to be too much after what she had witnessed and the statement that she had given the police already. She finally lost all control and began sobbing, holding Kasumi tightly (and eliciting an uncomfortable, but somehow resigned "Hotcha!" from the little… black…  
"Eeek! Pervert!" Kasumi screamed, seconded by Nabiki's cry of "Hentai!" As one, they separated, and a small figure dropped from where he had been nestled between their bosoms.  
"What?" asked Happosai with false remorse, "can't an old man have any fun?" 


End file.
